Around Town: President’s Day begins mid-winter recess

Monday is the observance of Presidents’ Day to honor Abraham Lincoln’s and George Washington’s birthdays. It’s a legal holiday and most federal businesses as well as other places will be closed. Some of the places that will be observing the holiday include the offices of the Town of Lenox and the Village of Canastota; the Canastota Public Library; the Canastota Post Office, as well as post offices in the surrounding communities; the Office for the Aging of Madison County and all SNACK sites; the NBT Bank, Key Bank, Oneida Savings Bank, M&T Bank, as well as banks in the other community; and Madison County offices.

Mid-winter Recess

The Canastota Central Schools will be closed for mid-winter recess until Monday, Feb. 24. The business offices will be closed on Monday, Feb. 17 in observance of Presidents’ Day.

Sherrill-Kenwood Free Library

Winter Break Fun for students will start on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 11 a.m. with a creation lab. There will be tons of creative things happening at the library, including crafts, Legos and Play Doh. Pictures of your wonderful creations will be put up on the library’s Facebook page, so come show us what you can do.

On Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m., Monster Movie Marathon will begin with “Monsters University” and “Monsters Inc.” Snacks will be provided.

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Thursday, Feb. 20 at 11 a.m., Snow Fest! You will be building snowmen on the lawn of the library. You will have a variety of supplies for building, but bring your own if you have them. In the event that the weather doesn’t cooperate, you will have activities inside.

On Friday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m., Seuss is on the Loose! The library will be showing the movies “Horton Hears a Who” and “The Lorax.”

Civic Club Meets

The Canastota Civic Club will meet on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at the Rusty Rail Restaurant, Route 5, Canastota. A social time will be held at 6:15 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $13 per person.

The program is “Special Events.” Guest speaker Pete Finocchiaro will present on a new neighborhood park for the center of Canastota. Peter has worked hard on this project and it will be a great park for the community to enjoy.

Chairman of the committee for the meeting is Bruce Cary. He will be assisted by Tom Alicandro Sr., Dick Clarke, Pat McCarthy, Frank Mutz and Don Raymond. If you are younger than 75, dues are now due, $20.

Canastota Library

An Excel Basics workshop will be conducted at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19 in the Lawson Community Room.

The Book Chat Club at the Canastota Public Library, 102 W. Center St., meets at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25 in the Carnegie Room on the library’s second floor. The February topic is “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein. Books are generally available for pick-up the month prior to the book chat meeting.

On display for the month of February is the photography of Gretchen Phillips and Caitlin Hilfiger. The duo creates photographs in both black and white and color with subjects as mostly people and animals. Their reception will be announced at a later date.

Free Movies

The Sullivan Free Library, 101 Falls Blvd., Chittenango, will show family movie “Free Birds” at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19. The movie, rated PG, stars Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Amy Pfoeler and includes family/comedy animation. Admission and popcorn are free; viewers are invited to bring their own snacks and beverage.

The NBT Bank Children’s Series at the Hamilton Theater will screen “Khumba” on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 12:30 p.m. Admission is free for children and their parents. For information, call 824-8210 or visit hamiltontheater.net.

Canal Museum

The Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum will host a Kids Workshop on Thursday, Feb. 20 from 9 a.m. to noon. Kids will get to make their own checker board. Wood and paint will be provided. Kids are encouraged to bring their own buttons for their board pieces. Tickets for the event are $20. On Friday, Feb. 23 from 10 a.m. to noon the Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum will host a checkers tournament. Tickets are $5.

On Sunday, Feb. 23 from 12:30-3:30 p.m. the Canastota HiWay Bowl will host the museum’s Bowling Bash. To RSVP or for more information on any of these events, call 687-3801 or email coordinator@clcbm.org.

Women’s Luncheon

The Oneida-Canastota Women’s Club will hold a “Little Pieces of Life” luncheon on Thursday, Feb. 20 at the Rusty Rail Restaurant, Route 5, Canastota at 11:15 a.m. Tickets are $13.

Guest speaker will be Jackie Gordon of Amsterdam. Featured will be Mary Morse of Mohawk, inventor of Kwik-Cut Chopper. Music for the program will be provided by Dick Bly.

For reservations call Jackie Lottermoser at 363-1224.

CASA Luncheon

The CASA in Cazenovia will hold its luncheon on Thursday, Feb. 20 at noon at St. James Church. Madison County Historian Matthew Urtz will give a presentation entitled “Lost Industries of Madison County.”

The luncheon will include lasagna with garlic bread. Those attending should bring a dish to pass and their own place setting.

Cazenovia Library

A program entitled “Library Olympics” will be held at the Cazenovia Public Library on Friday, Feb. 21 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in the community room. The program will celebrate the conclusion of the Sochi Olympics. The library will conduct events that will test the skills and endurance of the library athletes.

There will also be a torch lighting and medal ceremony.

Scrapbooking

A winter scrapbooking workshop will be held on Friday, Feb. 21 at the Manlius Methodist Church from 6-11 p.m. The cost is $25 and includes a pizza dinner.

Coffee House

On Saturday, Feb. 22, Heartsong Singers for Christ will make their third appearance at Augusta Presbyterian Church, Route 26. The group has been led by Patti Dahl since 1999. Dahl ministers in a powerful revival, anointing, impacting individuals, churches and regions. Since her last visit to Augusta, Dahl has been joined by Dee Eggert.

The coffee house begins at 7 p.m. and is free. Refreshments will be provided.

Irish Cabaret

The Town of Sullivan Parks & Recreation Department with the Leisure Time Senior Citizens Club is offering an Irish Cabaret at Perthshire trip on Wednesday, March 19 by chartered coach. Participants will depart the Bridgeport Methodist Church at 8:15 a.m. and the Recreation Office at 8:30 a.m. The fee is $48. Deadline for registration is March 3 or until full.

Participants will enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet luncheon at the Perthshire Banquet Hall in Amsterdam followed by a live cabaret show that includes Irish melodies, Broadway show tunes and pop songs and a pub style sing-along.

Bridgeport Food Pantry

The Bridgeport Food Pantry will collect soup through the end of February to help keep the shelves full and keep clients warm during these freezing winter months. Look for a “Souper Bowl Box” to drop off your donation. Local businesses will be participating.

The Bridgeport Food Pantry’s annual St. Patrick’s Celebration has been scheduled for Saturday, March 15. with fine food, fun, raffles and music.

Oneida Library

Senior Tax Help is being conducted at the Oneida Public Library, 220 Broad St. on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Seniors can get free tax-filing help and direct electronic filing of their tax forms from IRS-certified volunteers. Senior Tax Help is available at the Oneida Library until April 15.

Annual Tree Sale

The Madison County Conservation District is conducting its 2014 annual Tree and Shrub Seedling Sale.

The sale will offer 27 varieties of trees and shrubs along with fruit trees, strawberries, ground cover and a variety of packs. All of the trees and shrubs are bare root, not bailed and sold in bundles of 10 or more.

To order, visit www.madcoswcd.com for an order form or call 824-9840 ext. 3. Prepaid orders are due by March 28. Plants will be available for pickup on April 17 at the district’s pole barn at the USDA Service Center.

Clothing and Shoes

Students in Project Cafe are holding a clothing and footwear drive during February to help members of the Cazenovia community and less fortunate people in Haiti. The CazCares clothing drive seeks all types of gently-used, clean clothing to be given to homeless and low-income families. Warm clothing and coats are needed, as well as formal clothes for job interviews.

The Shoes for Haiti drive seeks gently-used footwear, without holes, which will be taken to Haiti for people who may have no shoes at all. All clothing and footwear donations can be dropped off in the boxes at Common Grounds, Dave’s Diner or at 15 Sullivan St. directly behind Faber Hall. For additional information contact Nia Williams at nwilliams@cazenovia.edu.

Mansion House

A recently-installed exhibit at the Oneida Community Mansion House pays tribute to Frank Perry, the creator of more than 100 silverware patterns. Highlighted is the importance of Paul Revere (1958) an elegant, simple style which powered Oneida’s successful changeover to stainless steel. The exhibit includes magazine advertising that promoted Perry’s South Seas in the mid-1950s and First Frost in the mid-1960s. Of note is an ad campaign of the late 1950s in which Bob Hope, Art Linkletter, and John Cameron Swayze happily endorsed Perry’s “asymmetric floral” look in Flower Lane, Silver Rose, and Young Love.

Perry’s daughter, Maria Skinner (Simply Designed Spaces), installed the exhibit curated by Tony Wonderley. Don Cornue (Sign & Art, Etc.) designed the text panels for the exhibit which will be up through June.

The Oneida Community Mansion House was home to the 19th century utopian Oneida Community (1848-1880). The 93,000 square foot brick building is located at 120 Kenwood Ave., Oneida. For more information call 363-0745.

Hamilton Library

The Hamilton Public Library is now offering a separate age-appropriate eReading room for children. Kids can browse, sample, place holds and borrow eBooks and other media appropriate for their age range and reading level. They may spend as much time as they want clicking away and exploring without the possibility of stumbling upon mature content. You can check out this new feature today by visiting the “eBooks for Kids” link located under the Library Resources tab on the website.

Wondering what new materials are being added into the library’s print collection? Whether you’re looking for fiction or nonfiction, audiobooks, materials for children or adults, the Wowbrary service will help you stay informed. Wowbrary displays a slide show on the website featuring the newest materials added to the collection and automatically updates each week. The service simultaneously posts updates to the library’s Facebook page, and sends email directly to Wowbrary subscribers too.

Story time for babies, toddlers and their caregivers is held in the children’s story room and led by library director Hilary Virgil on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. At the same time, story time for preschoolers is held in the community room with guest storyteller Sharon Morley.

Wampsville Village Office

The Wampsville Village Clerk’s office hours have changed. Regular hours for the clerk’s office will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30-8:30 p.m. and every second Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to noon.

Literary Classes

The Hamilton Library will present a February course for fans of mysteries and great fiction. Dr. Margaret Darby of Colgate University will lead a discussion of “The Moonstone,” written in 1968 by Wilkie Collins and called by T.S. Eliot “the first and greatest of English detective novels.”

About the Author

Carol Weimer has lived her entire life in Canastota and loves her career in newspapering.